I think the freighter people are not lying when they say that the helicopter never made it back to the freighter. I think it went just slightly off the bearing that Daniel warned them to take and they ended up at a time a few years before the crash of Oceanic 816. But only a couple of years off, or maybe only months?? Sayid and Desmond aren't known to be survivors of Oceanic 815 because that crash hasn't even happened yet! Their existence back in the real world is kept secret. Possibly Lapidus and Desmond die because they get too close to the version of themselves that exist naturally in that time period (like the rabbits in the Orchid video???). So what if the Ben that Sayid works for is a Ben from a slightly earlier time period than the Oceanic 6's time period off the island?

Of course, that doesn't explain why Sayid claimed to be one of the Oceanic 6 to the dude on the golf course. OK, that guy was a bad guy and he probably knew more about 815 than even Sayid himself. He knew Sayid was gonna kill him when Sayid said he was among the Oceanic 6. He knew the whole story of the island and Sayid knew he knew. Get me?

(OK, I'm not sure I believe all this myself...but it all started with the missing helicopter and Daniels pre-flight warning to Lapidus to stay on the exact bearing that got me going on this tangent. THAT part seems plausible to me.)


Hmmm...just throwing stuff out there.

__________________
"Helen, do you remember that authentic Australian walkabout I told you about?"

Really interesting theory. Unfournately I disagree with it. Not a bad theory none the less.

I concur with you PotPie. From the Season one finale we have Ben telling Michael to steer on that specific number heading. Ben was very explicit about that with Michael. Then we have a submarine - a submarine that can no longer get to the island because the beacon (or whatever it was) was no longer working. The beacon was imperitive to finding the island. Now we have another group of people leaving the island and another course-heading warning... a warning to stay on a very specific course heading. Daniel was adament about Lapidus staying on that course. But we saw the helicopter arriving and it was not a smooth landing. Perhaps on the way off the island they encountered the same turbulence and were forced off course.

__________________

`Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!'

-- Alice, from “Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland”

Well I agree with that part. But not the rest of it.

That's real great treebeard. Anyway I had an idea, I wonder if Jack took into consideration the 31 minute time abnormality when he was trying to find out if the helicopter was at the freighter yet? Also, what if the Regina was lying about the helicopter not being there yet? I have a suspicion there's some weird stuff happening on that boat.

__________________
" We kinda like knew that forever ago." -Hurley SE4EP8

A little hostile there Darnzy...

Wow, yeah! I hadn't even thought of that. But I think Charlotte's call to the freighter was the day after Desmond, Sayid, and Lapidus left, no? I'll have to check.

__________________
"Helen, do you remember that authentic Australian walkabout I told you about?"

yup. i like this part. sounds very plausible to me.

you guys have great memory, remembering this important stuff. i didn't recall about ben telling michael that, and now that you have brought it up, it does seem really important...

Do you mean that is why Jack wanted to call the freighter in the first place, the time difference? Did Jack see the two clocks with the 31 minute time delay? That would be a good reason to want to call the freighter - nice catch, darnzy! But then why would Jack & Juliet wait until the next day to call, unless Sayid & Desmond were originally (according to Jack & Sayid's secret plan) supposed to call Jack on that phone Jack has, but didn't.


I only remember it pchee because I think Michael's bearing were some of the numbers.

__________________

`Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!'

-- Alice, from “Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland”